2025 03 As If We Could Mistake This Work For Sacrifice

My mission to clean my basement and get rid of things I am no longer need continues with this project. It started with me taking apart a clock I purchased to use as art. 

Amongst all the other detritus in my basement I found this modified St. Michaels statue and a knick knack rack that I made at some point but never used--all fodder for this project. 

A simple plastic heart became more interesting when I texturized and painted it.

The clock case got flipped from its original orientation and the heart was suspended in it with some rebar wire. 

These Mexican tins were also left over from a previous project so I decided to use them as side trim wanting them to look like the sculpture I see on the Mesoamerican structures I see in Mexico.

I made a reliquary. 

Thus we have As If We Could Mistake This Work For Sacrifice. Unfortunately I deleted the information about which poet and poem this title came from. It is 24"H X 11"W X 6"D. It consists of Wood Clock Case, St. Michael the Archangel Statue, Bird Skull, Wood Newel Block, Wood Knick Knack Rack, Skull Beads, Plastic Heart, Baby Doll Arms, Jewelry, Rebar Wire, Sewing Pattern Paper, Paint.

2025 02 Do I Look Like A Martyr?

 Today my adventure began with an old bellows I had bought to collage on. But because I am taking a Michael deMeng on line workshop called Heart Chambers, it took on a new purpose. 

I have been cleaning my basement and uncovering old projects. One of the projects I found was this Altoid tin that I had worked on the seemed to fit the Heart Chamber theme. 

The insides of the tin were OK on the left side (above) but not so OK on the right (below).

I resolved the left side of the tin with a little paint (above) but completely rethought the right with paint and an old bone. 

Thus we have, Do I Look Like A Martyr? It is16"H X 8"W X 4"D. It consists of Bellows, Altoid Tin, Mexican Tin, Bead, Bone, Copper Wire, Nails (22), Aves Clay and Paint.
 

2025 02 Pause Between Two Clarities

This project started because I was storing two wooden heads in an old drawer amongst all my junk in the basement of my house. As I was moving them around to do some cleaning, I thought they looked pretty good together. 

I auditioned some images to get prepared to create the collage. 

I painted the backdrop and then began to apply the collage. It got this far before I decided the time had come to add some elements before the final colors are laid down.

So I got going on the wood heads. 

Texture

More colors went down on the box before the final project was assembled. 

Thus we have Pause Between Two Clarities. The title for this project came from the poem Respiration by Octavio Paz. It is 24"H X 12"W X 5"D. It consists of Drawer, Wood Heads (2), Wood Handle, Glass Heart, Belt Buckle, Nails (18), Paper and Paint.

2025 02 For Just One Kiss the Kings Of Earth Would Have Bartered Their Shadows

 I am in a new online class with Michael de Meng called Heart Chambers. The basic idea is to combine hearts with a shrine like structure. 

Here are the three items I originally selected to get my Heart Chamber started. That is a resin Benjamin Franklin Bank issued by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It painted rather easily.

I quickly rejected the original idea of somehow incorporating the metal mold form. Instead I decided to use this clock case for the shrine and this wood box for the pedestal that the Franklin will sit upon. After laying down some rusted coffee filter and sewing pattern, I was able to paint the case. 

Thus we have For Just One Kiss the Kings Of Earth Would Have Bartered Their Shadows. The title comes from Guillaume Apollinaire's poem Song Of The Ill-Loved Man. It is 20"H X 13"W X 7"D. It consists of Benjamin Franklin Bank (Philadelphia Museum of Art), Clock Case, Mexican Tin Heart, Servel Electrolux Gas Refrigerator Badge, Watch Part, Wood Box, Dixon No. 496 Yellow Lumber Crayon, Screws, Bead, Cheese Cloth, Rusted Coffee Filter, Sewing Pattern Paper and Paint.

2025 01 G + B = T

My new project is about the absence of common sense and decency in the United States in regard to how we interfere into people's lives. It is called G + B = T. You figure it out.

Here are the parts I gathered to begin the project. 

The mid-ground items are a radio speaker screen and an old light switch.

This is a photograph that I painted and overlaid with mica. 

Thus we have G + B = T. It is 15"H X 9"W X 4"D. It consists of Cradled Board, Wood Cathedral Frame, Wood Rounds (2), Radio Speaker Screen, Light Switch, Roller Skate Keys (7), Photograph, Mica, Rusted Coffee Filter and Paint